Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, unveiled a reform plan to contain the fallout from a recent organizational reshuffle. The centerpiece is to offer promotion incentives to employees who deliver innovation results, reduce excessive work related to the National Assembly, and create dedicated units for economic security and investment in the United States.
To boost internal morale, he also signaled an intent to ease promotion backlogs by expanding grade-1 posts. But within the ministry, there were skeptical reactions that said it would be difficult to implement in reality.
According to the government on the 5th, the deputy prime minister recently held a series of roundtables with working-level employees, including Deputy Directors, to discuss reestablishing functions under the new structure and improving work practices after the reorganization.
At a roundtable held on the 3rd, the deputy prime minister said, "If you raise the value of your division through innovation, I will make rapid promotion possible." He also presented measures to improve working conditions. The deputy prime minister said that starting on the 11th, only those at the Director level or above will be on standby at the National Assembly, and that only the minimum number of Deputy Directors and Assistant Deputy Directors will be assigned.
He also said materials submitted to the National Assembly will be simplified to focus on key phrases and statistics, signaling an intent to ease the practical burden caused by long standby hours and repetitive reporting. He also expressed his intention to push for the creation of a unit dedicated to economic security and investment in the United States to strengthen the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF)'s core functions.
The MOEF is also pursuing an expansion of Deputy Minister-level units in line with the transition to the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget system, which will be launched after January next year. The Ministry of Finance and Economy is considering elevating the Treasury Bureau and the Policy Coordination Bureau to the Treasury Office and the Policy Coordination Office, respectively, while the Ministry of Planning and Budget is envisioning a three-office structure by creating the Future Strategy Office and the Planning and Coordination Office.
These measures appear to be stopgaps to lift organizational morale, which fell after the plan for the Ministry of Finance and Economy to absorb financial policy authority fell through, and to alleviate the chronic personnel bottleneck.
Within the MOEF, some voiced positive assessments that the deputy prime minister is making an effort, but there was no shortage of chilly reactions.
An MOEF official said, "It looked like he was trying to soothe internal staff by any means," adding, "We hope he will lead the organization with the same mindset under the new system."
By contrast, another MOEF official said, "It seems the deputy prime minister is drawing a utopia," adding, "In reality, where it is hard to ignore demands from the National Assembly or orders from senior officials, will working practices really improve as the deputy prime minister said?"
The person added, "When there was a remark early in the tenure about creating an AI Bureau, the internal reaction was not good, and this time too, many say it lacks realism."
The push to expand Deputy Minister-level departments could run into a wall at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS). This is because the MOIS often takes an extremely cautious stance on creating senior civil service posts, citing fairness among ministries.
A government official said, "The MOIS is particularly conservative about creating Deputy Minister-level posts," adding, "Expanding senior civil service positions could trigger backlash from other ministries, so talks will not be easy."
Inside and outside the government, some point out that in the case of the MOEF's ongoing push to elevate the Policy Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Finance and Economy to an office, its functions would overlap with those of the Office for Government Policy Coordination under the Prime Minister's Office. Some also see the "creation of the Planning and Coordination Office at the Ministry of Planning and Budget" as unlikely, given that other ministries of similar size only have a Director General for Policy Planning at the Director General level.
For the deputy prime minister, who recently passed the 100-day mark since taking office, the top priority is to lift the morale of an organization deflated after the split and to secure momentum for policymaking under the new system. But how to bridge the gap between reality and ideals remains an outstanding task.
The MOEF and the MOIS plan to conclude consultations within this month and finalize the organizational decree.